Brazilian troops deploy to fight Amazon fires

Backed by military aircraft, Brazilian troops on Saturday (local time) were deploying in the Amazon to fight fires that have swept the region and prompted anti-government protests as well as an international outcry.

Some 44,000 troops will be available for "unprecedented" operations to put out the fires, and forces are heading to six Brazilian states that asked for federal help, Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo said. The states are Roraima, Rondonia, Tocantins, Para, Acre and Mato Grosso.

The military's first mission will be carried out by 700 troops around Porto Velho, capital of Rondonia, Mr Azevedo said. The military will use two C-130 Hercules aircraft capable of dumping up to 12,000 litres of water on fires, he said.

Mr Bolsonaro had described rainforest protections as an obstacle to Brazil's economic development, sparring with critics who say the Amazon absorbs vast amounts of greenhouse gasses and is crucial for efforts to contain climate change.

The Amazon fires have become a global issue, escalating tensions between Brazil and European countries who believe Mr Bolsonaro has neglected commitments to protect biodiversity.

Protesters gathered outside Brazilian diplomatic missions in European and Latin American cities Friday, and demonstrators also marched in Brazil.

"The planet's lungs are on fire. Let's save them!" read a sign at a protest outside Brazil's embassy in Mexico City.

The dispute spilled into the economic arena when French leader Emmanuel Macron threatened to block a European Union trade deal with Brazil and several other South American countries.

"First we need to help Brazil and other countries put out these fires," Mr Macron said Saturday.

The goal is to "preserve this forest that we all need because it is a treasure of our biodiversity and our climate thanks to the oxygen that it emits and thanks to the carbon it absorbs", he said.

In a weekly video message released Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the Group of Seven leaders "cannot be silent" and should discuss how to help extinguish the fires.

Bolivia has also struggled to contain fires that swept through woods and fields. A US-based aircraft, the B747-400 SuperTanker, is flying over devastated areas in Bolivia to help put out the blazes and protect forests.

Fires are common in Brazil in the annual dry season, but they are much more widespread this year.

Brazilian state experts reported nearly 77,000 wildfires across the country so far this year, up 85 percent over the same period in 2018.